A Thousand Winds That Blow
by Keleficent
Summary: Based on Alexia-neo's comic of the same name about Stan's final days.
1. Appreciation

Everything looked so different now. The town, the woods, the sky, Stan used to take them all for granted. He supposed it was because he thought he would be seeing them for many more years to come. But now, his days were numbered.

The doctor's words were replaying in his mind.

 _"_ _Stan, I am very sorry to inform you..."_

It was supposed to be a routine checkup.

 _"_ _So, how long do I have?"_

 _"_ _A few months at the most. I'm sorry, Stan."_

He reached the Mystery Shack. Soos was outside giving a tour. Stan decided to stop and watch him. Really watch him. The trees weren't the only thing Stan has under-appreciated in his life.

"Mr. Pines?" Soos spotted him. "What are you doing over there?"

Stan realized how strange it must look for him to be lingering near the edge of the woods. "Sorry, just watching. Don't let me interrupt."

Soos addressed the tour group. "Everyone, this is the original Mr. Mystery, Stanley Pines. Let's give him a round of applause."

The tour group politely complied. Stan would normally soak up any praise he got, but right now he just wanted to sink into a hole.

"When he went sailing around the world with his brother, he gave the Mystery Shack over to me."

"Why you?" One kid in the group asked. "Is he your dad or something?"

Stan may have well been his father as far as Soos was concerned. But he knew Stan probably didn't feel the same way. "Well, technically…"

"Yes."

Soos did a double take. Did Stan just say…?

"When I retired as Mr. Mystery, I wanted to keep the business in the family, so I gave the Shack to my boy over here." Stan put his arm around a star-struck Soos. "And I gotta say, he's made me very proud."

Soos' lips trembled as tears flowed from his eyes. The tour group chimed in with a unison, "aww," at the moving scene and gave a much more enthusiastic applause.

Soos, still bawling, addressed the tour group again, but never took his eyes off Stan. "That…that concludes…our tour, dudes…please…browse our gift shop…we're…we're having a sale on…on…novelty bobble heads."

The group headed to the gift shop leaving Stan to calm down a weeping Soos. "Alright, Soos, settle down. Let it out. Come on."

"Did…did you really mean all that stuff, Mr. Pines?"

"Yes, Soos, I did. And I haven't been your boss in years. Call me Stan."

"Dude, calling you Stan is awesome, but…it would be more awesome if I could…call you…Dad?" Stupid Soos. Stupid. Stan said something nice. Don't push it.

"Sure."

"Wha…really? I can call you Dad?"

"Yeah, it has a nice ring to it." Before Stan could react, he was engulfed in a bear hug that felt like his bones were being crushed. "Okay, Soos, loosen up. I don't wanna die ye-"

Reality hit Stan like an oncoming train. He suddenly remembered the news he just received, the reason why he was being unusually sentimental.

"Sorry, Mr. Pi…I mean, Dad." Soos released Stan. His smile dropped when he saw the melancholy expression on Stan's face. "Hey, you okay?"

"Yeah, yeah, just got a bit of a headache. I think I'm gonna go inside."

"Okay, I gotta another tour soon. See you later…Dad." Soos giggled in delight at being able to call Stan, "Dad."

Stan watched Soos walk away before quietly saying, "See you later, kiddo."


	2. Like Riding a Bike

Stan opened the door to find his brother at the table reading. Stan tiptoed past him and tried to leave the room without Ford noticing.

"So, how did the checkup go?" Ford didn't even have to turn around. Even years after leaving the portal, Ford's senses were sharp.

Tears pricked Stan's eyes. He wanted to turn around and tell Ford everything. He wanted Ford to hold him, to cry on Ford's shoulder, for Ford to tell him everything would be alright because he can fix it.

But Stan was dying. There was nothing Ford could do to fix that. If he told Ford the truth, all that would accomplish is Ford having to spend Stan's final days living in grief and dread. That's not what Stan wanted. He didn't want to see his brother sad. He wanted to spend the time he had left making more memories of his brother being happy.

"Stan?"

Stan pulled himself together before turning around to face his brother. He plastered a fake smile on his face. He can't remember that last time he's had to conjure up a fake smile. He used to do it all the time, but he hasn't needed to since he and Ford set off on the Stan O' War II all those years ago. Still, pretending to be okay when you're dying inside is like riding a bike, you never forget.

"Of course it went well." Stan crossed his arms and leaned against the wall like he didn't have a care in the world. "I'm as strong as an ox."

"Heh, never doubted that, Stanley."

"You wouldn't call me a liar, would you?" Stan said a little too hastily.

"Oh, um, no, I suppose not." Ford turned his attention back to his book.

Stan said nothing. He just kept smiling at his brother. A little too long.

"Stanley? Is something wrong?"

Stan realized he had zoned out, and his brother caught him staring. "I was just thinking…let's go on a trip. A camping trip. Just you and me."

"Oh, um, that's a little out of the blue, but sure, that sounds like fun."

Now was Stan's chance to escape, but he stayed rooted to the spot staring at his brother. His wonderful, beautiful brother. So many years he could have been with his brother were wasted on self-pity and bitterness. Now, he was regretting those wasted years more than ever.

"Stanley, are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, just really excited to spend quality time with my bro." Stan draped his arm around Ford's shoulder. "Let's leave tomorrow."

"Tomorrow? So soon?"

"Problem?" Stan asked.

"No…just…why the rush?"

 _Because I'm dying. Because who knows how much longer I'll even be able to walk under my own power. Because I need a distraction from my impending doom. Because I want to spend as much time with the people I love as I can._

But Stan simply replied, "Why not?"


	3. All the Ice Cream He Wanted

"Shouldn't we take a break? We've been walking for hours," Ford huffed as he bent over with his hands on his knees.

"Nope! I want to see as much as I can," Stan said without a hint of fatigue in his voice or body language.

Ford sighed and wiped sweat from his brow. He couldn't recall the last time, if ever, he was unable to keep up with Stan physically in his adult life. Usually, it was the chubby Stan struggling to keep up with the more athletic Ford. His brother's seemingly endless amount of energy baffled him. Ford took a moment to catch his breath before following his tenacious brother. Stan will have to tire out eventually, right?

Wrong.

Stan kept them going until the sun went down. He seemed to have a newfound appreciation for nature as he looked around at the plant life and occasional wildlife they come across on their trek.

Ford enjoyed nature walks as much as the next guy, but Stan had completely worn him out. When they reached an open clearing, Ford suggested they sit down and look at the stars. Stan happily agreed.

Ford plopped down on the ground. He wasn't really in the mood to look at stars, he was just happy to finally be able to sit. As Stan sat next to him contently staring up at the sky, Ford pulled out their map. Once they had rested, he wanted to return to camp and go to bed.

"Ford," Stan's voice cut through the silence. "What do you think happens when we die?"

Ford, exhausted and trying to concentrate on reading the map, didn't catch the somber tone of Stan's question. "Hang on…" he said dismissively.

After scanning the map and feeling satisfied he had a basic idea of where they are, Ford put the map away and gave his brother his full attention. "Sorry, what did you say?"

"I said…what do you think happens after we die?"

"Hmm…it's hard to say. I've documented the existence of ghosts, so there does exist some form of afterlife. But not every person can become a ghost or the world would be overrun with them. But there is a possibly that most ghosts exist on a different wavelength and the ones we can see are just a few exceptions that can be seen in the frequency of our dimension-"

"So you don't know?" Stan said cutting him off.

Ford gave a chuckle. "No, I don't. I'm afraid it's a mystery I've failed to solve."

"I'm surprised you can stand to leave any mystery unsolved, Poindexter."

"Even with my study of ghosts, the nature of death has always eluded me. As it eludes all."

"Until we die."

"Excuse me?"

"I…I mean…the people who already died know what happens, right?"

"True. I suppose it's a mystery that will be revealed to all of us in time."

Stan smiled sadly. "I guess that's one thing I'll know before you."

"Wait…what? What are you talking about?"

"I…I just mean…you know…cause…you're…you're such a health nut. You'll…you'll probably outlive me." Stan smiled as innocently as possible. "It's a joke."

"That's not funny, Stanley."

"Sorry." Stan hung his head.

"Ah, don't worry about it, knucklehead." Ford smiled and wrapped his arm around his brother's shoulder. "And where do you get off calling me a health nut when you've made us walk nonstop for hours?"

"It's payback for all the rabbit food you made me eat on the Stan O' War."

"If I let you eat your way, you would have had ice cream for dinner."

"Well, excuse me for wanting to live." Stan ribbed his brother playfully.

Ford returned with his own playful ribbing. "Excuse me for wanting you to live a longer life."

Stan couldn't help but chuckle at the irony. Ford had been so concerned about Stan's bad eating habits cutting his life short. Considering his life was about to be cut short anyway, he might as well have let Stan eat all the ice cream he wanted.


End file.
